Page 128 of Blood Fist

Fingering the bandage around his arm, he pressed into the wound with a hiss. The hurt was minimal. It was nothing compared to the pain he couldn’t see. The kind of pain Halm couldn’t heal. The pain of seeing his people murdered. Of watching his home burn to the ground. Of losing his nest, the last tie to his parent’s scent and his safe haven. Knowing that this was just the beginning.

Brune caught his hand as he went to press again, wordlessly interlocking their fingers. He held their joined hands in his lap, thumb stroking over Ridan’s battered knuckles. It was such an innocuous gesture. But Brune had always been good at saving Ridan without ever having meant to.

“Why are we still alive?” Jonen asked, his voice cutting through whatever peace they found sitting beside the fire.

Corric lifted his head from where it had been resting on the short alpha's shoulder, blinking up at him sleepily. “Because Kaldonea soldiers are poorly trained and given shoddy weapons?”

“No, I mean Sinestrus,” Jonen’s eyes were calculating, his ample cheeks hidden under the layer of filth. “Why hasn’t he used his magic against us? Decimated us? He’s done it before, hasn’t he?”

Ridan felt his mind sluggishly begin to work again. “You’re right,” he agreed, only chafing a little at the admission. “Why does he need Kaldonea at all?”

“To break him from the scale?” Brune suggested.

“But he’s been freed,” Jonen continued. “Krait served his purpose.”

Ridan nearly shouted in frustration. More questions with no answers. It was endless, just gettingenough information to ask more questions. Building like a storm over the plain until there was nothing they could do but take cover and hope everything looked the same on the other side.

“He doesn’t have a body,” Corric said, sitting up to look at Ridan across the fire. The sleepiness was gone from his eyes. “Think about it—why does he need the mountain at all? Why would he try to getbackinto his prison?”

“Because he needs something from the mountain,” Brune answered, looking between them to see if they agreed.

“That’s the answer.” Jonen said excitedly, head snapping up. “Sinestrus needs something from the mountain. Something he couldn’t take with him because Corric wouldn’t give him his body.”

He stood, beginning to pace around the fire. “And there’s only one reason he hasn’t killed us all yet—he can’t. He must need whatever is in the mountain to do that.”

Ridan tried to follow him. While Jonen muttered and paced around him, he put everything he knew together.

Sinestrus may have freed himself, but he didn’t have a body. That must have put a halt to whatever plans he had. So he must have had to regroup, get Krait to do whatever dirty work he couldn’t do without a body.

Staring into the fire, it suddenly hit him.

“Magic,” he breathed. “It all has to do with magic.” Standing, he looked around the area until he saw Buzzard and Schok huddled together. While no one had said anything to them, they were still sitting a respectful distance from the others, just close enough to feel the weak heat from the fire.

“Remember what Buzzard said? Humans aren’table to produce magic, they can just manipulate what's already in the land. Sinestrus was, at one point, human. He can’t produce his own magic.”

Jonen’s eyes widened. “And the magic in the land is poisoned, too weak to do anything substantial with. That’s why Cyrill and Krait were torturing Buzzard—to see if he could produce more magic.”

Brune looked between them, his head on a swivel with eyebrows raised so high they were nearly hidden in his hair.

“Sinestrus is free, but he can’t practice any real magic. That’s why he needs Krait—to help him get whatever it is he left in the mountain.”

Corric caught on, his face paling. “Artrax’s scale. It’s the only thing left in the land born from a powerful magical being.”

“It must have residual magic. He used Artrax’s left over magic to keep himself alive, and then free himself.” Jonen finished. “And why he needed Corric’s body! He must need the scale to take over a body. Corric was with him and the scale, but when he thwarted his attempts, he left Sinestrus without magic and without the ability to get a body.”

Brune whistled through his front teeth. “Sinestrus needs a body to practice magic. He needs the magic in the scale to get a body, but he can’t get the scale without a body.”

“You really fucked up his plans, Corric.” Ridan said with a tired smile, watching the haze of guilt begin to dissipate from Corric’s eyes.

Jonen knelt beside his omega, kissing his cheek and murmuring praise against his grimy skin.

Sinestrus has a weakness. It’s thin, but it’s there. An opportunity to stand on equal ground with the incorporeal monster. Their mission was unchanged: protectthe mountain. As long as it was standing tall, unmarred by Kaldonea scum, Sinestrus couldn’t regain his previous power.

As the wind blew through the trees, Ridan shivered. Brune wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close and lending him some of his body heat. Ridan closed his eyes and allowed himself to bask in his strength. Just for a moment.

The dark bags under Gustall’s face did nothing to lessen the intensity of the glare he was shooting at Ridan. “You want to do what?”

Trying to keep the irritation from his voice, Ridan forced his face to remain placid. “I want to send riders to the other clans to ask for their aid.”